I really enjoyed this episode of This Week in Machine Learning featuring the delightful Joanna Bryson (@j2bryson) … her take on the issues was fresh & added a perspective that is really lacking — & that we don’t always realize is missing — from the standard discussions about AGI & how AI is (& might be) used by companies, governments, or anyone else for that matter…
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(Also I’ve been on a kick lately learning more about AI & trying to wrap my head around some of the deeper conceptual methods used in machine learning, & have found the TWIML&AI podcast to be a pretty good one….)
I think it’s possible that The XX have held ‘favorite band’ status for me maybe longer (speaking in terms of consecutive years in the top spot) than any other band… & in a bit of goofiness a few years ago I tried to recognize that by tweeting & posting a bunch of links on the anniversary of the day I first heard their debut LP. Around that same time in 2012 I had started running (lost over 40lbs! w00t!) & during my very first half-marathon I srsly needed all the hype I could muster, so I pumped up the jams while lumbering around Eugene, OR. At the starting line, however, I made sure that as the mass of people raced out of the gate that I started with “Intro” blasting into my ears…
Now, 9 years later its admittedly silly to mark “xx day” on my calendar & to get all wistful & nostalgic of that time, but it seems like their songs are inextricably linked to how I felt then, who we were hanging with (all distant now, as everyone has moved on.), & the stark, lovely emotions that the band taps into. For me, at least… Maybe it was a passing fancy for some, but (to paraphrase ‘Our Song’, for the walls I hide behind, they just walk through…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgIaIvwPg8
/ All I’ve done / you’ve done too /
Also, the band has been remarkably — consistently — great, & each release since that debut has been chock full of great songs. I’ve now seen each tour, & the live shows have been beautiful moments. They’ve got a few great covers of others’ songs, but maybe tops for me is this Beyonce tune:
/ “I thought that things like this get better with time…” /
